The Times-Mail from Bedford, Indiana • 7

OPINION MBWcy Trfes-Mal. Bedford. Indiana. Friday. November 13.

2008 A7 More than a name on a field Is to aMm far aoeuraeyt Uka pertedlon, total aocuracy may be unsittonabto; howswr, ft wi remain our primoy goal and wo wl net Msattofeduntl ft to within our pasp. Tmes-Mat editorial board B. Mayor Maloney Jr, Publisher and Edttor Mlw Uwls, Managing Editor Bob Bridge, ReporterCoiumnist or Moon, ReporterColumnist Kiyotol Shollor, ReporterCopy Editor Ths edftgifato of the Tnws-KM ralect the opMons ot the sdkorial board. Members can be reached rough tmnewBOtmnewsrom or 2754355. To report snore In ths newspaper, end an a-mal to mtetakeeOtmnews.oom.

1 18th Street P.O. Box 848 Bedford, 47421 Phono 278-3358 Success came this season to football players on PaoliJohn D. Cook Memorial Field. But none of the Rams on the tour-. ruunent -winning team found inspi- ration for success quite the way Joe Cook, a player from Paoli last nament championship team, found his more than 30 years ago.

Joe, as a senior at PHS in 1977, helped lead his team to success on a field that was named for his broth- er. Joe was hardy 7 yean old when John died in Vietnam in June 1966. Death came just 10 days before John tour of duty was scheduled to end. A crowd with many people standing is said to have packed the Paoli Church pf Christ building for John funeral. talked.

I'm sure, about a talented athlete. They no doubt talked about a young Marine commitment to the cause of freedom. A short time after the funeral, a Marine corporal, accompanied by Paoli Dan Uyesugi, appealed to the Paoli school board to name its brand-new football field for the fallen Marine. John had played football when it was new to PHS. He was a senior and the season games were played on a makeshift field at Papli JayceePark.

Fast forward a decade. Eva Cook, and two siblings have since died. But three other siblings remember, as Joe does, a very loving brother. John had graduated from PHS in 1963. His sister Joy John B.

Cook graduated in 1968, and now lives ta-the Lafayette area. She was a cheerleader at PHS, the man. she would marry Mike Roberts, played football. They recall that the family was seated together for the dedication of the field and they remember the' subsequent game against West Washington. In reflecting on John, Joy told me, He was what I would consider die epitome of the older brother.

Speaking as a sister, he was very special. I just always considered him the all-American guy. As. the oldest of the siblings, Sharon Newman, from the Evansville area, saw two of her sons. Dale and Dean Lashbrook, play on Cook Field when they were in high school.

Dale, who has since died, bore his Uncle John middle name. Sharon said, Everybody liked John. He was just a good boy. Mark Cook, from Bedford, was 11 'when John died. He talked, too, of thinking about John every time he sees the field flagpole, with the marker erected near it.

John death in the military didn't keep Mark and Joe from going into the armed forces as well Mark served in the Army and Joe was in the Air Force. I was really proud to be John little brother. I just want to say that to you, Joe told me Tuesday. It Veterans Day tomorrow: I was very proud that he paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. I was proud to serve my country, as he was.

I was very proud of him and what he did and how he was a person who was willing to go to war and to pay that price for freedom. Paoli Rex Babcock, a good friend of John during their growing-up also was in Vietnam when John was killed. Rex told me, There was no finer individual for that football field to be named after than him. Some celebrating has taken place on Cook Memorial Field on this fall Friday nights. But those celebrations mean very little in comparison to the way priceless memories now celebrate the man for whom the field was named.

He has been truly missed, Joy said. Even after all these years. Times -Mali Staff Writer Roger Moon welcomes comments at 277-7233 or rqgrriStmnewsxom. mm aglOPIMIrtMSa Joe Cook had grown into a young man who wore a helmet and jersey, kicked the pigskin and played his heart out for a reason that was uniquely his. 1 wondered what it was like for Joe to day on Cook Field.

-So I asked him when I caught up with him fay phone at his govern-, ment job in St Louis. I can hardly talk about it, Joe told me as his voice broke, and a long silence followed. I used it as a especially my senior year, he then said. Walking up the hill from the locker room, I'd always make sure that I glanced over to the flagpole and looked at the memorial and used that as some inspiration. Although Joe was a little guy when John died, he remembers him.

I knew that John was a very caring persfin, Joe said. He was a brother that definitely loved me. I always looked up to The brothers parents. Albeit and Its time to settle 1-69 disDute There is a discord that has been taking place for months in Monroe County over land included in the Interstate 69 corridor. TheBloondngtonMonroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Indiana Department of Transportation areilt seeing eye to The MPO policy committee has declined twice toincludelandINDOT wanted to buy on Tapp Road in its transportation improvement We think Monroe County and INDOT officials must work out their differences.

federally funded transportation projects in the MPO area. However, IN-. DOT officials say the state included its intent to the privately owned house in its transportation improvement plan. In cihler for the statetp allocate money to local transportation projects, the local and state transportation improvement plans have to be in alignment. They aren't aligned, so now, INDOT wants to withhold millions of dollars for key transportation projects from the area beuuse of the dispute.

Obviously, INDOT and the city of Bloomington have been at odds over the construction of 1-69, Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan wrote in a letter to the governor and INDOT. Withholding state and federal funding from all citizens all taxpayers within an entire county to make a larger point surely is not the best manner in which to resolve these differences. Egsmikstia 911 suspects to NY for trial WASM MOTOR Self -proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind KhaJid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees wit be sent to New York to face trial in a dviiao federal court, an Obama administration official said today. The official said Attorney General Eric Holder planned to announce the decision today The official is not authorized to dscuss the decision before the announcement, so spoke on condftioh of Without confirming details of the decision, President Barack Obama said it was a legal and national security matter, lam absolutely convinced that Khaid -Sheikh Mohammed wW be subjected to the most exacting demands of justice, Obama said at a joint news conference in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Bringing such notorious suspects to U.S. soil to face trial is a key step in Obama plan to dose the terror suspect detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba It is also a major legal and political test of Obama overall approach to terrorism. GOP abortion insurance over; WASHWOTON A chagrined GOP Chairman Michael Steele has told Repubican National Committee staff to immediately stop providing RNC employees with insurance for elective abortions -ran option -that Repubfcans strongly oppose as Democrats try to pass a health care overhaul bM. Money from our loyal donors should not be used for this pose, Steele said in a statement late Thursday after learning of the abortion coverage from a news report. several families and different family names.

While looking at a Port Williams Cemetery book, a news photo from the Times-Mail fell out. It showed Mart Smith of Williams with his hand on a tombstone, the oldest in the cemetery The photo was from maybe 1976 or so. He told the story of a wagon train coming through that stopped to bury a child by the name of Christenia Atchason, and the date was 1830. This became the Port Williams Cemetery. It was also the day our families arrived in Lawrence County.

They spent the first summer near Williams. If anyone has any handed down stories either in writing or verbal form, they -should be taken to the Museum so future researchers can benefit from them. I had never heard this story about our family. The point to this is the fact that people before us have devoted energy and money to put things in family files, donate research books and countless hours of volunteer time. I found my great-great-grandmother name in a book that had been donated from North Carolina records.

We didn know for sure what it was, and thanks to this facility we do. Marvin Atchison Bedford favorite candidates, but we can influence the outcome of elections by voting en masse and communicating with our representatives of our concerns. If nothing else, we do need to start a dialogue on the issue of special interest influence on our government arid consider term limits, public financing and other ways to curb the abuse of our political system. As Will Rogers said, On account of being a democracy and run by the people, we are the only nation in the world that has to keep a government four yean, no matter what it does. Carol Roop Mitchell Museum library wonderful facility To the editor: Our county is blessed with a wonderful research library, for history and genealogy.

It is also staffed by knowledgeable folks who sincerely want to help you find that elusive bit of information that makes every-. thing fit together. Wit need to use it and support it' 1 recently started looking into the families that came here in 1830 by wagon train. We know there were Corporations are not people To the editor: Campaign contributions have become a controversial subject the last few decades, but at the heart of the controversy is something referred to as Corporate Personhood." This idea has been around since lhel800s and stems from a Supreme Court case in 1886 that extended the- rights of a person to a corporation based on the word in the 14th Amendment. Throqgh the years the courts have extended more and more rights to corporations and special interest groups so that today corporations are a person and money is free speech.

Does this give a large corporation an advantage over the common citizen? Most would say yes. When, it takes millions of dollars to be elected to many state and federal offices, politicians are drawn to those large donations to fuel their campaigns. Can we be sure that our representatives are working for our best interests when influence is a matter of a large contribution? Individually we may donate to our We agree. Itk good to stand up for what you believe fat, but in an instance like this one, it would be in the best interest of the taxpayers of Monroe County for officials from INDOT to sit down with those in the Bloomington area to resolve the conflict. And this dispute also can ripple dowhstate, to other communities affect-, ed by 1-69.

It will not do anyone any good if INDOT picks up its ball and runs home. Instead, the disagreement should be worked out through compromise, putting the best interest of the area first and foremost. No one is going to agree all of the time, but conflict resolution can go a long way in benefiting the people of Monroe County. Associated Press Everybodys Talkin: Catch sculptor on TV before show from the karaoke competitions. That being said, the hobby is widely popular.

Those who enjoy hitting thi microphone will want to mark their calendars for the first, fundraiser to benefit the ongoing renovations at the Grissom Boyhood Home in The event will be from p.m. on Nov. 30 at tbe community building in Mitchell. All proceeds go toward getting the boyhood home of Virgil Gus" Grissom up and running as a Cost is $3 per and refreshments will be available for purchase. "i Contact Krystal Shetler at 277-7264 or kshetlertmnews.com.

Dec. 23 and will feature holiday gifts from local artists. also is partnering with The Black Dog Cafe at 49th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Indianapolis for a Christmas show You also can visit www.ri-tabunny.com for pictures and mpre information on Rita upcoming shows. Berlin anniversary Fellow Everybody Talkin' columnist Roger Moon had this information to share after he visited earlier this week with Bedford A1 Walker. A1 came to the newspaper office on Monday which was the 20th -anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a reality that marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War.

A1 was their home more than IS years ago. At Berlin, they were in the company of Jasmine and her father, Frank Becherer. A1 was struck by what it meant for Frank to pass into East Berlin. Frank stopped. A1 recalled, and put his hand on the base of one of those big columns at the Brandenburg Gate, and know he was praying.

I would bet he was giving thanks for the reunification of his country Karaoke anyoneT It pretty doubtful anyone is ever going to ask me to pick up the microphone and bell out' anything. My vocal cords are for speaking learned long ago I should stick to lip sync contests and stay away toting a clear plastic square cube measuring no more than an inch or two. Inside the cube is what purported to be a piece of the Beilin Wall. A1 and hiswife Donnera happened to be in Germany sometime after the wall fell. Pointing to.

the piece of the wall, A1 said, There was some, enterprising German selling it. 1 think it is forreaL1! The Walkers were at Berlin Brandenburg Gate when they made the purchase. We went into East Berlin, A1 told Roger. It hadn't been too long that people could even walk in there. 'The Walkers were visiting Hanover! Germany, to see Jasmine Becherer, a German ex- change student who stayed in ita Jackson sculptures will make another ap-JLmpcarance in the Temptations Holiday Boutique in Louisville.

Jackson, a Mitchell sculptor, will be among 32 juried vendors who were invited to participate in the shopping experience. Conducted for the past two decades, the show is conducted at The Olmsted on Nov. 17, 18 and 19. The boutique features custom jewelry, stationary, sweets, picture' frames, flower arrangements, antiques and more. It is open to the public.

For more visit To preview the show; Jackson has been asked to appear on the Fox morning show on Monday. It Channel 41 for those who have television service out of Louisville. It not the only show on Rita plate this holiday season. The local artist, who creates fanciful designs that range from beautiful nativity scenes to animals serving as Santa helpers, will be in tire Holiday Art Mart at the Waldron Arts Center and Bloomington Area Arts Council in Bloomington. The Holiday Art Mart runs from Nov.

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